Kershaw 1556TI Cryo II, The Cryo that should have come first!

It is safe to say that I am excited about this knife and finally having it in my hands! Even at the time of this writing, Kershaw's website is still showing this knife as "coming soon" and it has been that way for over a year! They have pushed out the release date more times than I care to remember but I finally have one. I snagged mine from Cabelas on sale for only $39.99! That is $20 off the MSRP for this knife, what a bargain! Naturally when I got it, I had to open it with its smaller but older brother the Cryo I;

Comparing the Cryo II to the older Cryo I seems like a natural thing, even Kershaw says that it is 20% larger (I say it is 20% awesomer)... so lets do that. As far as measurements go, the Cryo II is larger (duh). The Cryo I measures in at a 4.1 oz weight, 166 mm overall length, 69 mm cutting edge, and a blade height of 24 mm. Compare that to the Cryo II with its 5.5 oz weight, 194 mm overall length, 85 mm cutting edge, and a 29 mm blade height.

The differences are not limited to just the dimensions of these knives. If you look closely at the above picture you will see that the Cryo II has; a slightly shorter pocket clip that is more matte finished and without a white color fill on the characters, matte finished hardware, larger and more spaced out jimping, and larger diameter but shorter length thumb studs (on the Cryo I, the studs stick out just past the handle scales).

An additional difference in these two knives can be seen in the above picture. The scallop on the frame lock bar of the Cryo I is on the exterior whereas the scallop on the Cryo II is on the inside of the scale.

The original Cryo I was and is a great knife to me in all aspects. Sure, it was a tad heavy for the size but I like the heft. It came with a razor sharp edge out of the box and my only real complaint was that it was a little bit too small. Now that I have it, the Cryo II is everything I hoped it would be and how Kershaw should have made the original Cryo I in my opinion.

While the blade of the Cryo II is only 16 mm (5/8") longer than the Cryo I, it looks much larger due to the added 5 mm height of the blade. The Cryo II feels miles better in my hand when compared to the Cryo I (similar to how a Glock 19 feels when compared to the Glock 26... its all about a spot to put your pinky finger!) which is saying something because I love my Cryo I! The added size of the Cryo II makes this knife a more likely option for a defensive blade compared to its older sibling.

The only issue I have with my Cryo II was that once I removed the pocket clip to move it to my desired position there was a stain under where the clip was that I cannot get off. For the record, it does not bother me that much but I had to find something to point out... right?

The 1556TI Kershaw Cryo II is exactly what I was hoping it would be and I am glad to finally get one in my hands. I have been carrying it for the last week since I got it and it performs more than adequately for what I was expecting. This will be replacing my all black Spyderco Tenacious in my EDC system until I find something else to geek out about!